LOST
(2006-ONGOING)
Things fall apart. We lose buttons, keys, money, and relationships. We misplace papers and information. One spends hours searching for a particular letter, or there are treasures in the bottom of a drawer or in the back of a closet that have been misplaced or forgotten. The recurring experience of loss throughout our lives can be seen as a kind of practice for the inevitable loss of our bodies through death. Using castings of small, discarded everyday objects in precious metals, this project creates a connection between aesthetic practice and the cycle of life. Photo credits: Brian Forrest (LOST); Josh Schaedel (LOST at Long Beach Museum of Art).
LOST
Long Beach Museum of Art
At the Long Beach Museum of Art, LOST featured everyday objects spread out over an expansive eight-by-24-foot table top designed to mimic the gallery space. Continuing to use jewelry techniques in bronze, white bronze and brass lost-wax cast metals each tiny object represents a small and unique item. Examples include a preserved button, a handcrafted millinery flower, puzzle pieces, misplaced keys, coins, or containers of makeup as if in various stages of decay. These intimate groupings of tiny artworks evoke thoughts about loss throughout life—from baby teeth to relationships—and prompt us to consider what we leave behind when we move or die.
LOST
LAContemporary
In 2008, LAContemporary featured LOST as part of a two-person exhibition pairing Brucker with Los Angeles artist Barbara Drucker. Their works both celebrated and reflected on the everyday aspects of life. In this setting, LOST was installed on a 8-foot square pedestal supported table. Metals lost during the process of casting these small elements, including the Bells pictured here, lend a sense of fragility to individual pieces and the overall feeling of the work.
